Improvement in motive power for carriages



y ema saar stent (tihlreQ SYLVESTER L. LANGDON, 0F NEY'VORLEANS,LOUISIANA.

Letters Patent LNo. 100,643, dated lllarch S, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN MOTIVE POWER FOR CARRIAG-ES.

The Schedule referred tain these Letters Patent and making part of *thesame derstand and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings making part of' this speci-f lication. o

'lhe figure is a. side view .ofv the device illustrating my invention,partly in section and applied to a car. My invent-ion consists in amotive power intended to he applied to cars,carriages, andv vehiclesgenerally, and is derived from a series of' arms having elastic feet,

' and made to revolve so as to take hold ofthe ground,

the bed -ofa road, or any foundation especially laid therefor, andthereby propel the conveyaiice with great rapidity, safety, and surety.

ln the drawings- A may represent a vcar, carriage, or conveyance of anysort.

In thc present case I, have represented a car having one of itsplatforms extended so as to support 'its lvm'lt'ing-parts, which formthe propelling power.`

l From the platform there arisesstalulanl a o., which form the bearingsof the shaft to which the fly-wheel b is secured.

A series of gearing, c, is connected with the Hywheel iu order tocommunicate motion to a wheel or `hub A', which is secured to a shaftproperly mounted on arms or standard rising from the platfbrm.

'lo this hub or wheel there aresecured arms 'l B, \\`hich.radiatet-l1erefiom,-and may be'construeted of wood or metal, either flat,round, or tubular, in the f'orm of' a curve or right lille, and of anynumber, thickness,vand length, suitable for the purpose. intended.

The hub and arms 4thus produce an'anned wheel A" B. I To cach of theouter ends of the arms is fixed an elastic foot, C.

In the 'present case these feet consist of pieces of` rubber, I),rigidly connected to tubes E, which are made to slide over the arms B,or the latter may slide over the former.

A slot, d, and pin,- c are respectively formed wit-h each tubeaudarm,`to `limit the play of the foot, the pi n being adjustal'iletherefor.

Elastic springs maybe interposed between the tubes and arms in order tothrow ont the former, although this can be accomplished bythe rubbers D,which may project suflicientl y into the tubes so as to be compressedwhen the feet are forced towardthe center.

The arm B, could be made of'l elastic material, and thereby' dispensewith the interposed springs.

The operation is as follows:

Power of' any kind is to be applied to the flywheel" b or. elsewhere, tocause rotation of' the ar'ms B B. If hand-power is employed, a crankshould be connected to the fly-wheel or its shaft.

0n rotating 'the arms the feet reach the ground or bed, or foundation ofthe road, and take hold thereof, and consequently connnunicate motion tothe car or .conveyance A.

It will be seen that the distance from the axis of' the arms and feet totheir extreme ends is greater than that from the axis to the ground orbed, 'consequently the arms and legs could not pass the center were itnot that the feet are elastic, and thus give.

The momentum of' the conveyance and power derived from .the fly-wheeland gearing will assist the arms and. legs in their operation, and thusrender the device easy of manipulation, and produce a rapidity 'of'propulsion and strong power.

,lhe liub A maybe dispensed with, and the arms B be secured directly toits shaft, but itis preferable to use the hub in view of the strain onthe arms, whereby the connection between the arms and shaft must be madeextremelyqstrong, and this is accomplished when the hub is employed. l l

It is n'otnecessary that the aforesaid devi'ce be particularly locatedon the front o r rear plat-form of a vehicle, as it is equallyapplicable to the sides thereof. In the lat-ter case an armed wheel isplaced on each side, both having the same shaft and a single fly-wheeland set of gearing arranged on said shaft.

In some cases rubbers I) may be applied directly to ytheends of thearms. In either case said rubbers takeiii-rn hold 'of' the ground, bed,o r foundation, to assist in propellingr the vehicle, andlikewise'prevent slipping ofthe arms. l

rlhe device tln1s `specilied is simple, practical, and

useful.

Having thus described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let, ters Patent, is

1. The series of rotating armsB B, operated by suitable mechanism andpower, and applied to a ve-v hicle to operate, substantially as setforth.

2. The rubber' I), applied to the armed wheel A ,13,-s0 .as to come incontact with the ground or road, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

lhe rotating arms Ii, carrying elastic feet C, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

The above signed by me this 8th day of liebruary, 1870.` "i

a SYLVESTER L. LANGDON.

Y Witnesses: f

J OHN A. WIEDnl-:snrnan A. B. VANnEMAnK.

